Next PMO man Pulok moved file to make Kalmadi OC head

Pulok Chatterji, a former close aide of Sonia Gandhi, who is expected to take over as the Prime Minister’s next Principal Secretary in October, is emerging as a key intermediary in the appointment of Suresh Kalmadi as Chairman of the Organising Committee of the Commonwealth Games (CWG). The BJP has been shouting from the rooftop that both Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi had a hand in the appointment of Kalmadi - now in jail in connection with various CWG-related scams. There is now a kind of paper trail for the same through Chatterji. [caption id=“attachment_59165” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Chatterji was the key link between Sonia Gandhi and the Prime Minister’s Office in 2004. Valsts kanceleja/Flickr”] [/caption] The Congress party’s main argument—articulated by Sports Minister Ajay Maken last week—is that the PM had no option but to appoint Kalmadi since it was part of the Host City Contract signed in 2003 during the NDA regime. This was in response to the BJP claim that Manmohan Singh had originally agreed to appoint Sport Minister Sunil Dutt to head the CWG in October, 2004, but the very next month this decision was reversed to favour Kalmadi. BJP leader Arun Jaitley quoted a letter from Sunil Dutt complaining about this shift in the PM’s stand to buttress its claim that it was the PM’s active choice of Kalmadi that made the difference. This is where Pulok Chatterji’s file notings seem to have played a part. He apparently moved the note that resulted in the appointment of Kalmadi. According to The Economic Times , Chatterji, who was then Joint Secretary in the PM’s Office (PMO), wrote: “Organising the Games involves (a) large commitment on (the) part of the government of India. It is only appropriate that the Organising Committee is headed by a government appointee. The Prime Minister may consider approving the nomination of the Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports (which was Sunil Dutt at that point) as the Chairman of the OC." It is not clear if this note was Chatterji’s or that of his section officer KV Pratap, since The Indian Express says this emanated from Pratap. Pratap’s note was backed by Rohit Khera, an officer on special duty at the PMO. But what seems clear is that on 3 December, Chatterji was clearly in favour of Kalmadi being appointed OC chief citing the Host City Contract and also the precedent of the Asian Games of 1982. Says the Express: “Chatterji’s note affirmed that Kalmadi may be made the OC chairperson, but recommended a number of measures to address concerns raised by the Sports Minister Sunil Dutt. These included setting up a Group of Ministers headed by HRD Minister Arjun Singh to monitor and oversee preparations…” for the games. Since Chatterji was the key link between Sonia Gandhi and the Prime Minister’s Office, it stands to reason that both knew and blessed the Kalmadi arrangement – at least in 2004. When Chatterji moved the four-page note, it was okayed by the Principal Secretary TKA Nair the same day and the PM himself the next day. Chatterji has been close to the Gandhi family from the time he was district magistrate in the 1980s at Sultanpur, which includes the Amethi Lok Sabha constituency. Rajiv Gandhi took to him for his understated style and discretion. Chatterji’s links with the Gandhis grew as he later worked in Rajiv Gandhi’s PMO, in the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, and as officer on special duty to Sonia Gandhi when she was opposition leader during the NDA government. Back in the PMO during UPA-1, he played a crucial role in the Kalmadi appointment and served as a key communication link between 10, Janpath, and the PM. He was later sent to the World Bank, and will return as Principal Secretary to the PM in October replacing Nair – apparently to re-establish the direct link between the PM and Sonia Gandhi. More recently, Chatterji played a key role in moving Sonia Gandhi to Sloan Kettering hospital for an operation in  a secret operation. The CWG controversy will presumably have died out by the time he returns to the PMO, but there’s little doubt he was a key intermediary in the Kalmadi affair of late 2004.